As Luck Would Have It
by FlightfootKeyseeker
Summary: In Animaestro, only dumb luck stopped Kagami from sitting on that cake. What if Tomoe hadn't called out to her? What if she HAD sat on it? What then?
1. Chapter 1

*SPLAT*

Everyone froze.

Slowly, Kagami stood back up.

A crushed piece of chocolate cake unstuck itself from the back of her kimono and landed on the floor.

This- this is what she wanted right? This was the plan she'd agreed on.

But seeing the look of horror on Adrien's face, the way Kagami's breath hitched… she couldn't make herself believe it.

"Kagami?" Adrien whispered, reaching out to her.

Kagami's face slowly crumpled.

She let out a sob, then dashed away, revealing the huge brown stain on the back of her clothes.

"Kagami, wait!"

Adrien started towards her.

"Just- just leave me alone!"

He froze, hand still outstretched.

He straightened up, looking devastated. "Kagami…"

She ran.

"Hah! That'll teach her."

Marinette turned towards Chloe. A look of glee covered her face.

She- she was happy. Thrilled, even, at Kagami's flight.

Why wouldn't she be? This was the outcome they were working towards.

That THEY were working towards…

What was she DOING?

This was wrong.

Marinette felt like her stomach was being drained, as if there was some whirlpool in there that sucked up any good feeling and left her simultaneously feeling empty and sick to her stomach.

This was a bad dream right? She'd never do something like this. Yeah! It had to be one of those dreams where you apparently did something awful within the background of the dream, but before the dream actually started. So you're just dropped into it with a backstory that doesn't match who you are, and you just have to live in it.

She watched the proceedings as if in a trance. None of this was real. She was just an observer, watching from the outside.

At Chloe's words, Adrien turned around, meeting Chloe's eyes.

They hardened as he took in her expression.

He looked more closely at the chair the cake had been placed on, eyes narrowing as they locked onto the string that Chloe had used to pull it and the chair he originally brought over for her, replacing the clean, empty chair with the one with the cake slice.

His face twisted in anger.

"Chloe," he hissed, keeping his voice deceptively calm. "What did you do?"

She tossed her hair. "Moi? I'm just enjoying the party, Adrikins. You can do so much better than _her_."

"You put that slice of cake on her chair. You pulled the string."

Chloe gasped. "How could you possibly accuse me of such hurtful things?"

"DON'T lie to me, Chloe," a bite of anger entered Adrien's voice. "I've known you since we were little. I can tell."

She shrugged. "So? Maybe I did. It's not like it was just me who wanted her away from you. Little miss goody-two-shoes Marinette helped."

Marinette?

Oh. That was her. Seemed like her role in this drama was continuing.

Chloe was still talking. "Besides, now you don't have to sit next to _her_ anymore. With Kagami gone, there's an empty seat right next to you!"

She walked up to him, moving to clutch his arm. "Wouldn't you rather sit next to me, Adrikins?"

Adrien ripped his arm away, backing up several steps.

"NO. What you did to Kagami was _not_ okay, Chloe. You hurt my friend. And pretending that Marinette was involved in this? That's low, even for you."

Pretending Marinette was involved? Maybe the dream was changing to get rid of that bogus backstory.

Why didn't she feel relieved?

"But… I am your friend," Chloe said, voice dropping.

"After this, I'm not so sure."

Adrien turned to Marinette. "I'm sorry Chloe dragged you into this, I know you'd never do something like this."

_I know you'd never do something like this._

He was talking about her.

He was wrong.

Adrien just continued staring at her, waiting for a response. His comforting expression morphed into one of confusion.

"Marinette? Are you alright?"

Marinette.

She was Marinette.

She was here, in this moment, right now.

This wasn't some imagined thing.

She wasn't going to wake up.

This was real.

Which means that everything she'd remembered doing, she'd actually done.

She ran.

* * *

She wasn't sure where she was going.

So long as it was away from the movie theater, away from that slowly replaying clip of Kagami sitting on that cake, that was good enough.

What had she been THINKING?

That Kagami and Adrien were going to get together?

That Kagami was evil JUST because it meant that she, herself, couldn't be with Adrien?

Her stomach curled at the thought.

That didn't justify what she and Chloe had done. If he chose her… well, then he chose her. She had no right to try to take that choice away from him, to drive off the people he cared for.

This… why did she DO this?

But it wasn't like this was the first time she'd crossed the line with Adrien.

She'd left an embarrassing voicemail, so she'd decided that that gave her the right to break into his locker and steal his phone in order to delete it.

That… that was theft and invasion of privacy. And not for an altruistic reason either, like when she stole Alya's phone to try and recreate her little shout-out to the Ladyblog. That was for her own personal gain, to avoid embarrassment.

God, he'd probably have just deleted it without listening if she'd ASKED him to! He was nice and respectful like that.

"Marinette…" a small voice squeaked out.

She looked down at her purse. Tikki poked her head out.

"I- I should've listened to you Tikki," she forced out.

"Hey, it's going to be ok," Tikki looked at her, reaching out comfortingly to touch her arm. "I know this seems bad-"

"Seems bad?" Marinette choked back a hysterical sob. "I tried to drive Kagami away from him, just because he might like her. I HURT her. She's done nothing to deserve this."

Tikki spoke firmly, "What you did was wrong, yes. But it's not the end of the world. People make mistakes, Marinette. Even mistakes that hurt other people. Even good people have bad days. You just-"

Tikki's eyes widened. "Watch out!"

Marinette turned around, spotting a blotch of purple flying overhead, getting closer.

She went into crisis mode. "Tikki, Spots On!"

As the red-and-black spotted suit replaced her waitress uniform, she threw out her yo-yo, putting a bit of distance between herself and the butterfly.

Before it could get much closer, she swung her yo-yo out again, catching the butterfly and purifying it.

She let it out, staring numbly as it flew off into the distance.

She'd nearly been akumatized. Nearly given Hawkmoth half of what he needed, and probably doomed all of Paris.

And it would've been her own fault.

Did she even deserve to be Ladybug?

She curled up into a ball on a nearby rooftop and cried.

She remained there for the next couple hours.

* * *

Adrien collapsed onto his bed at home.

Today had been a DISASTER.

And it had started so well too!

Getting to spend time with Kagami?

Seeing the premiere of a movie that (though he was the only one who knew it) starred I, where he'd gotten to voice himself?

It was just such a funny thought, a little inside joke that only he and Plagg were privy to.

He wished he'd actually gotten to hear the dialogue for the movie's "Ladybug" before the premiere though. While his own dialogue was at least within the ballpark of stuff he would say (which _may_ have partly been due to his own interventions when it came to the script), Ladybug's wasn't remotely like her. Allergic to cats? Please.

Sadly, he hadn't even gotten to meet the girl who was going to voice Ladybug, much less record alongside her. He'd just been given his lines and was vaguely told of what was going on in the scene and the sort of emotion he was supposed to deliver with the line. He'd always assumed that voice actors got to know the entire script, but apparently that wasn't always the case.

Ah well. Hopefully Ladybug wouldn't be too annoyed by how they'd butchered her character.

"So that was a disaster, huh?"

Plagg flew out of his shirt.

"Yeah."

Adrien flopped over, putting an arm over his eyes. "I still can't believe that Chloe did that to Kagami. I mean, it's not that out of the ordinary for her, but I really thought being Queen Bee had helped her to change. But then she pulled THIS stunt. And she had the nerve to blame Marinette too! And Kagami…"

Adrien trailed off. Kagami had calmed her voice enough to tell her mother that she wasn't feeling well and she needed to go back home. Since Tomoe was blind, she had no idea that Kagami's clothes were ruined, and she'd had no desire to inform her mother of the truth.

Adrien had watched the movie without her. He'd have rather gone after either Kagami or Marinette, but his father or Nathalie letting him leave was an iffy prospect.

Chloe had taken Kagami's seat. She'd had the good sense to NOT try to drape herself all over him, but he still would have rather been anywhere else than the movie premiere he'd been so looking forward to.

Honestly he was just shocked no one had been akumatized. Kagami was definitely distressed enough, and Marinette… well, he didn't know what was up with Marinette. Did she not believe him when he told her that he knew she hadn't helped Chloe?

He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He'd rather not fight either of the girls he cared so much about.

Speaking of girls he cared about…

He opened his phone, scrolling through the Ladyblog.

There was a flurry of recent activity, all over a handful of photos.

He looked closely. It appeared to be of Ladybug hunched over, half-hidden behind a chimney. Apparently she hadn't moved for hours.

Well this didn't bode well.

"Plagg, we're going to visit Ladybug."

Plagg paused in the middle of eating a cheese chunk. "But I haven't finished eating yet!"

"Eat more later. Ladybug needs us. Plagg, Claws Out!"

Moments later he was running over the rooftops of Paris, glancing at the Ladybug tracker on his staff every now and then.

* * *

It wasn't long before he reached her location.

She still hadn't moved, looking exactly like she had in the photo from before.

He approached cautiously, not wanting to scare her. "My Lady?"

She yiped and flew about ten feet into the air.

Well. So much for not scaring her.

Was he just really good at sneaking up on people without meaning to? He'd accidentally startled Marinette several times before, but even she usually didn't jump THAT high. Then again, she didn't have superpowers.

When she landed, she just stared at him, frozen.

Her eyes were red from crying, mucus running from her nose, and even her hair looked a bit unkempt.

What the HELL had happened?

"Ladybug!" He rushed forwards, taking her by both arms. "What happened? What's wrong? Are you hurt? Did someone hurt someone you care about?" A stab of pain went through him as the next thought came to him. "Was- was it Hawkmoth?"

She gave a sobbing laugh, looking down at her feet. Adrien's gut twisted. Normally he loved His Lady's laughs. He treasured every time she laughed at his jokes and antics (even if occasionally it was at his expense). But this? This wasn't a sound he ever wanted to hear. He never wanted to hear her sound so miserable.

"N-no. No one hurt me. No one hurt anyone I care about."

That didn't sound like the end of the story. "Then what-?"

"It was me."

Huh?

"What do you mean?" he asked hesitantly.

"I hurt someone. I hurt someone BADLY for STUPID reasons. And you know what's worse?"

She looked up at him. "I realized… I've been doing this kind of thing for awhile."

His Lady had hurt someone? Well… he guessed he could imagine it. She could have a temper at times. He'd seen that with Lila.

But he doubted that she could have hurt someone who had done nothing to deserve it as badly as she seemed to think she did. Ladybug wasn't perfect, he knew that, but she was a good person who tolerated people even when they'd caused her trouble. Heck, she gave CHLOE a Miraculous!

And when she had gone overboard, she tried to make things right. He'd seen that with Lila as well.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked her hesitantly. This sounded like a civilian thing, but if he could help, he would. He hated seeing her so miserable and alone.

"I-" She looked torn and lost. "I- I dunno. I'll try."

He sat down, cross-legged, and patted the space next to him. She gave him a small smile and sat, leaning against him.

After a few moments she spoke. "I was at an event earlier today. I hadn't planned to go, but then I found out that the boy I like-"

She froze, jerking her head up to look at him. "Oh crap I didn't mean to hurt you by talking about him I'msorryI'msosorry-"

He pulled her into a hug.

"It's fine, Buginette," he told her soothingly. "I'm not upset or hurt, I promise. I'm just hurt seeing YOU be hurt."

She took another breath and continued. "So. The boy I liked was there. And so was- so was the girl he'd gone on a date with."

The boy she liked was taken? Adrien's stomach did a flip.

He tried to quell the hopeful feeling. This wasn't about him, and this DEFINITELY wasn't the time to think about doing anything concerning his lovelife. This was about Ladybug.

"I didn't like seeing her with him. I thought she might- I dunno, kidnap him to Japan. It was dumb."

"There's this other girl. She's mean to just about everyone. She's always bullied me, my classmates, anyone around her really."

Someone had BULLIED Ladybug?! WHY?!

Deep breaths, Agreste. Let her finish the story. You can't do anything about the people in her civilian life anyway. Concentrate on the here and now.

"She didn't like seeing him with that other girl either, and she proposed a plan to drive the girl away from him. I- I wasn't sure at first, but I was just so scared of her taking hi, of him choosing her, I just… I wanted to believe it was justified. I told myself the girl was evil even, that we were in the right! But it was a lie."

"I- I may not have come up with the plan. But I knew what it was, and still helped."

She let out another sob. "The plan worked exactly as intended. The girl's clothes were ruined, and she left, upset and distraught."

The girl's clothes were ruined? Wait… this sounded familiar.

No. No, it COULDN'T be.

"The boy found out what had happened. He confronted the other girl, the bully. She tried to lie at first, but soon told him what we did. Even bragged about it. And then, she mentioned that I had helped."

The bully… could that be Chloe? But then, if that was true, then, Ladybug must be…

"The worst part? He told her to stop lying. That I'd never do that."

"He thought I was too good a person to hurt someone like that, for such a petty reason."

"He was wrong."

Marinette.

Ladybug was Marinette.

She looked up, noticing the way he'd stiffened. Her eyes crinkled, fresh tears welling in them. "If- if you want a different partner-" her voice hitched. "I- I understand. I didn't think I was cut out to be Ladybug when I first started. Now… I know I don't DESERVE to be Ladybug."

NO.

He pulled her into a hug.

She seemed shocked for a moment, then relaxed, fresh tears falling on his shoulder.

"You're wrong. You've saved the day again and again, and are the kindest, bravest, smartest, most amazing girl I know. You screwed up today. I won't deny that. But you recognize that now. Everyone can have moments of weakness where they do something wrong, something they shouldn't have done. It's part of being human. It doesn't define who you are, or erase everything else you've done. Kagami was hurt, but not irrevocably."

"Kagami?" she whispered. "You- you know who she is?"

He gave a small nod. "Your description was a little too exact. I saw the whole thing. It wasn't hard to guess who you were talking about."

"Then- then you know…?"

"You're Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The best partner I could ever ask for."

She melted into him. He stroked her back, comforting her.

They stayed like that for several more minutes.

Finally, she pulled away.

"I can't believe you found out like this, and you're still… you're really too sweet, you know that?" she said.

He shrugged. "I like to see the best in people. They can mess up and do something wrong, but everyone's got their own lives, their own things going on. Sometimes someone just makes a mistake. Sometimes they're hurting, and just don't know how to deal with it. Unless they're really, actively malicious or hurt someone irrevocably, I don't think they should be written off entirely. And someone just having a bad day, then realizing that they did something wrong and regretting it? We're all human, Buginette. The important thing is to try not to do it again."

She flinched. "This… this isn't the first time I've crossed the line when it comes to Adrien."

A small thrill ran through him as she said his name.

"Remember how I said I'd been doing this for awhile?" she continued. "I've been obsessed with Adrien since the beginning of the school year. I- I paid close attention to when he said he'd go somewhere and what his usual routine was, and wrote it down on my schedule so I'd know what he was supposed to be doing at all times. I've eavesdropped on him before, especially when he's with another girl, I've got his pictures all over my walls, I've made him birthday presents through his 30th birthday now to make up for the last one I gave him losing my signature somehow, and I even bake him a special macaroon every week just in case I work up the courage to finally give it to him!"

She winced. "The worst one though, before this, was stealing his phone."

Adrien blinked. Marinette had stolen his phone? When would she have-

Oooooh.

"That was the time you were late to the statue unveiling ceremony, right?" he asked.

"How did you-? Never mind. Yeah, that was it. I'd been trying to ask him out to the movies, but I could barely speak a word straight. I thought it'd finished recording, but nope. And I- I called him 'Hot Stuff'! I went to stop the voicemail from going through, but accidentally hit the wrong button. So of course, in all of my great sanity," she rolled her eyes, "I decided that the best option was to secretly break into his locker while he was fencing and erase the voicemail from his phone before he got the chance to listen to it."

Well. That explained where his phone had gone.

"Look, I'm sure it'll be okay. You stole his phone and yeah, you probably shouldn't have. But you were panicked and weren't sure what to do. If I'd been in that situation… well… I'm not sure I wouldn't have done that either, in your shoes. It's okay."

She buried her face in his shoulder. "He still doesn't know about it though. He doesn't know about ANY of the things I did. Heck, he doesn't even know what I did today! I can barely talk to him normally, how can I tell him about all the crazy things I've done?! …And I really need to tell him. Even if he hates me and never wants to see me again, he deserves to know."

"Woah woah woah!" Adrien put up his hands. "What makes you think he'll hate you?"

She stared at him, slack-jawed. "Did you not just hear about the stuff I did? Of course he'll hate me! I know you don't Kitty, but you're not him!"

Oh the irony.

Adrien shook his head. "He doesn't hate you, Marinette. I don't think it would even be possible for him to hate you. I know that for a fact."

"How- how can you be so sure?"

Adrien took a deep breath. "If you really want to know how I know so much about the situation – how I know so much about what Adrien thinks – I'm gonna have to detransform."

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "…Okay. Just – let's move somewhere a little less visible."

He grinned. "After you, Milady."

* * *

A few minutes later, they alighted on Marinette's balcony.

She turned to him. "So. You think that detransforming will explain everything?"

He nodded, suddenly nervous. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…

Too late now though.

"Just… try not to scream."

She blinked. "Scream? Why would I-"

"Claws in."

She screamed.

Maybe a joke would help?

"So, do you still think I'm Hot Stuff?" he asked, flexing one of his arms.

Marinette burst out laughing.

Meowch. That was a hit to the ego.

Still. It accomplished his goal of stopping her from screaming. Laughter was better.

"I- You – I told you everything – and you," she choked out in-between laughs. "You just – how?"

Um.

"How what?" he asked.

"How are you so just… OKAY with all of this?" she asked.

"I grew up with Chloe," he said. "Remember her reaction? She saw nothing wrong with what she'd done. With hurting others. You? You cared. You cared so much, you broke down sobbing when you realized what you'd been doing. I'm not going to judge you too harshly for getting overenthusiastic and going too far. Not when you clearly care about harming others. You're a _good person_, Marinette."

She stared at him for a moment, then shot him a small smile. "Thank you."

"I still need to make it up to Kagami though. Or at least, try to. I need to do something to show how sorry I am, and to make some recompense for helping to mess up her kimono- OH!" Marinette shouted, a lightbulb seeming to come on. "I can make her a new kimono! Wait, but I don't know her measurements…"

"I can help with that," Adrien told her. "My father helped to design some clothes for Tomoe and Kagami recently, he probably still has her measurements laying around somewhere. I can get them to you."

She nodded. "Thanks, kitty."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "No problem. I can head back right away and try to find it. Or, well, send Plagg to look for it. He can't be caught on camera, I can."

A smile tugged at the edge of her lips. "I've heard how lazy Plagg can be. Need a little added incentive for him?"

"That would be helpful."

"Spots off!"

Newly detransformed, she went downstairs, coming back a few minutes later with some cheesecake. "Think this'll be good?"

Oh yeah. "This is perfect."

"I'm glad. You're helping me to fix my mistake; the least I can do is help with this."

He carefully took the cheesecake in one hand, making sure not to let it tilt, and ran off back to the Manor.

Marinette headed down to her bedroom to start on some ideas for her new design. She'd messed up. But the world hadn't ended. Maybe Kagami would forgive her. Maybe she wouldn't. But at least she would have tried to make amends.

And as for Adrien…

She went too far with him, became obsessive, even slightly possessive at times. But her relationship with him wasn't broken. Far from it.

And he returned her affections.

She'd step back a bit. Rein herself in. She didn't want to get pulled into that hole again. Didn't want to repeat her previous mistakes.

But maybe later, maybe once she was confident that she was okay.

Maybe then, she'd finally ask Adrien – ask her Kitty – out on a date.


	2. Chapter 2

"Adrien gets the point!"

Kagami's mouth tightened as she nodded.

Adrien flipped up his visor. "Kagami? Are you okay?"

She looked down and away. "I'll be fine."

She had to be fine. So what if one of Adrien's 'friends' (though he didn't seem thrilled about calling her that) had set it up so she'd sit on a cake? Who cared that one of her peers had hated her so much, that she'd purposely ruined her clothes and publicly humiliated her? Who cared that for one of the few public events she looked forward to, one of the few where she really got to hang out with her one friend, she'd been forced to leave? She was a Tsurugi. Tsurugis did not get caught up in emotional matters. Tsurugis never showed weakness.

(Her mother had told her that often enough.)

(It was one reason she didn't tell her mother what had happened. She was ashamed enough of herself for showing weakness. For letting someone else upset her. She didn't want her mother to be ashamed of her as well.)

Adrien frowned, his voice lowering slightly. "Is this about what happened a couple days ago?" he asked quietly.

"It was nothing. Just some cake. It washed out."

"Kagami… you know you're allowed to feel bad about that. Right? You don't have to pretend. Not around me."

"Tsurugis CANNOT be bothered by such small things," she said stiffly, a little quicker than she'd intended.

Adrien still looked concerned. He opened his mouth as if to say something to her, but then seemed to think better of it. Instead, he turned to Mr. D'Argencourt. "Mind if we stop the lesson for today? I'm getting tired."

Kagami flushed a little. She knew Adrien was really ending it for her because she couldn't concentrate, because she was failing (_she couldn't fail, she was a Tsurugi, she was not allowed to fail_), but – she was grateful. He piled it on himself instead of on her, allowing her to save face.

He was a good friend.

(_And maybe someday something more? If only he would change targets…_)

As they walked back to the locker room, she noticed Adrien fidgeting slightly.

She frowned. She wasn't very good at reading people – she KNEW she had problems with body language – but she'd studied some guides recently, and that sort of movement usually implied that the other person was nervous or anxious somehow.

Why would Adrien be fidgeting around her?

As they sat down on a bench, taking off some of their more cumbersome equipment, he took a deep breath. "I… need to tell you something I found out a few days ago. About the cake incident."

She looked away. After she'd gotten home and changed clothes, after she'd stiffly told her mother that she needed some rest and shut the door, she'd slowly walked to her bed.

And collapsed, screaming and crying into her pillow.

She… she knew she shouldn't. That she should rise above all those who tried to bring her down.

But she just… couldn't.

It hurt.

She'd heard Chloe's parting words as she'd fled, the glee in her voice at driving her off.

Afterwards, she thought that maybe she should've turned around and fought, confronted her, refused to back down.

But at the time, she just wanted the whole thing to be over. For the nightmare to end. For it all to be a bad dream.

Hawkmoth seemed to have taken a day off at least. No butterflies came for her. Because that would've been the perfect end to the day; being akumatized for her own weakness.

"Kagami?"

She looked up, startled. Great, she'd zoned off again.

Wiping her eyes on her sleeve (_She. Could. Not. Show. Weakness._) she looked over at Adrien. "What is it?"

Hesitantly, he started. "The cake incident… Chloe wasn't the only one involved."

_What?_

"What do you mean?" she asked, trying to get her head around that new development. How could anyone else have been 'involved'? And why? Chloe she at least knew hated her, knew she'd do that sort of thing. But… someone else?

If someone hated her, it was probably for a reason.

Hastily she ran through her encounters with everyone at the movie theater, everyone she'd ever interacted with.

It was a pretty short list.

"…Marinette helped?"

Adrien's eyes widened at her question. "You guessed that easily?"

"She was the only other person there I'd encountered before."

Marinette… Adrien thought the world of her. That she was a great friend. And from his looks towards her, and Marinette's towards him… well, it seemed like she was MORE than just a friend to him, whatever he insisted.

As for Marinette's feelings towards Adrien… well, those were clear. Though not to him.

She sort of wished that Marinette would make a move already, find out once and for all whether Adrien was interested in her. To settle the matter.

But… a very large part of her hoped that Marinette never would. She tried to quell those feelings, but… she cared for Adrien a lot. And though he hadn't been been able to change targets after their previous date, she hoped that maybe, with a little more time, he would.

And if Marinette asked him out… considering the way Adrien looked at her, talked about her?

She had a feeling that Adrien might be able to switch targets to Marinette, where he hadn't been able to do so to herself.

Dread pooled in her stomach. If Adrien thought so highly of Marinette, if Marinette was such a good friend, and yet was willing to help humiliate her publicly, to drive her off-

Had she screwed up that much?

Done something so terribly wrong, that Marinette had judged her unworthy of being around Adrien?

And… what did that mean for her own relationship with Adrien?

Would he even want to be around her anymore?

Or was she about to lose her only friend?

Adrien started to reach out to her but then seemed to think better of it, letting his hand fall back to his side. "Marinette, she… she made a mistake. She got caught up in her fears and anxieties, and let that blind her to what she was helping with. Chloe still masterminded the plan and was the main one implementing it, but- Marinette knew what it was, and still participated."

He took a deep, shuddering breath, letting it out slowly, then continued. "As soon as it happened – as soon as it succeeded – she realized what she'd done and felt horrible about it. I got a chance to talk to her later, and… well, she wanted to apologize in-person, if you were up to it. To explain herself. She wanted to make sure she wasn't forcing anything on you though and causing you MORE pain, so she asked me to relay the message to you. If you don't want to see her, she said she was okay with that. You have every right not to. But she wanted to give you the option."

Marinette… wanted to apologize?

And was giving her the power to decide whether to see her?

That… that was a lot more consideration than Kagami was used to. Normally, her feelings weren't taken into account.

But it seemed like Marinette had jumped through hoops to make sure that this was on KAGAMI'S terms.

A warmth began seeping into her stomach, replacing the dread.

"That is acceptable," she stated.

He gave her a small smile. "She's actually close by. Would… would you like to talk to her now? We can always do this another time if you don't feel up to it," he added hastily.

Talk to her now?

It was sudden, but.

Kagami was not one to hesitate.

"Yes. I'd like to speak to her."

Adrien typed a message on his phone. A small _fwoosh_ coming from it a moment later.

"She'll be here in just a minute," he assured her. "Would you like me to stay here for this, or leave?"

"Leave us, please," she said. "I'd prefer to settle this with just the two of us."

He nodded, getting up and walking to the door.

As he opened it, he ran into Marinette.

Kagami's stomach twisted slightly as she saw the soft looks they gave each other, deeper somehow than they'd been previously, during their double date.

If they weren't dating already, she had a feeling they soon would be.

She turned away briefly, composing herself.

Whatever Adrien's choice, it had no bearing on the situation on hand.

…if only that would keep it from hurting.

"I'm sorry."

Kagami looked towards Marinette.

Her eyes were locked on the ground, a small cloth bundle in her arms. She quaked ever so slightly. "I… I needed to tell you that. It- I know it doesn't make up for what I did. But I just- I needed to let you know. If you were willing to hear it."

"…What DID you do?" Kagami asked softly.

This trembling girl, who couldn't even look her in the eye… as terrible as she'd felt these past few days, she had a feeling that Marinette had felt even worse.

Even if Marinette had helped hurt her, even if she'd lost Adrien to her – _shove that thought away, you don't know that, and it's NOT RELEVANT_ – she didn't want to spook her.

Marinette hadn't had to do this. Chloe certainly hadn't.

She just wanted to understand what happened, and why.

"He didn't tell you?" Marinette asked, sounding surprised.

"Adrien said you helped with the plan, but not what you actually did."

Marinette took a deep breath, seeming to gather her thoughts. "I… I gathered the materials Chloe needed, like the string to move the chairs with. And… and I planted the gum that got onto your shoe."

When had she-? Oh.

"That was when you fell on the ground and spilled the macaroons?" Kagami asked.

Marinette nodded, wincing. "Honestly, I should probably apologize to Mom and Dad too. They worked hard making all those macaroons and they let me help serve them, even though they were afraid I'd drop half of them. And then I went and dropped them on purpose!

That… that wasn't all I did though. I also distracted Jagged Stone, asking him to autograph a poster for me so he'd be forced to set down the piece of cake he was holding onto the chair Chloe'd rigged. I… should probably apologize to him too, when I get the chance," she confessed guiltily. "I ended up dragging him into the plan, and he had no idea about it, but… well, I still kinda ended up using him."

So she hadn't really executed the worst part of the plan at least. She wasn't happy with Marinette, but…

Well, Marinette seemed to feel bad enough already.

"Why did you do it?"

Marinette was quiet for a moment, then spoke, her words coming out haltingly at first, then in a rush, as if forcing the poison out of her body. "I… I was jealous. And scared. Chloe convinced me that we were good and you were bad, and that you were gonna steal Adrien away to Japan and marry him and I'd never see him again and _this was my one chance to stop that from happening and it was stupid and I was stupid and I'm sorry that was no excuse and- and-!" _

Her breath hitched, small sobs coming out as her shoulders shook.

Kagami was in a different sort of turmoil. Marinette had thought…? MARRIED… and that they'd go to JAPAN…?

"Heh."

Marinette looked up, her sobs slowing.

Kagami tried to suppress it, but… she couldn't help herself.

"Heh heh. Ha ha ha. HA HA HA HA HA!"

She nearly doubled over laughing.

"What's so funny?" Marinette asked. Her voice still trembled a little, but she mostly just seemed confused.

Kagami wiped the tears from her eyes. It just felt so good, after all the stress and emotion, to let it out as laughter instead of cries.

"My mother barely approves of Adrien. She thinks he's fairly decent as far as young people go, but… that's it. I usually have to persuade her that it would be good for our social standing or for our skills to hang out. She doesn't even realize that Adrien and I are friends, not really. Just that we keep each other occupied while she and Gabriel are busy with business deals, and that he's a good rival. Mother… she's never approved of friendships much. She sees the value in building alliances, but… she's always said that 'friends' can prove disappointing."

"That's… that sounds awful," Marinette said. "But you've had friends before, right? Surely she allowed you that much!"

Kagami shook her head. "Adrien is the first and only friend I've ever had."

Marinette's eyes went wide. "But you only met him a few months ago! Even Adrien had CHLOE before he came to school_, even if she is kinda a sucky friend_," she said, muttering the last part under her breath.

Kagami heard a few more snatches of muttering from Marinette, though she did better at keeping them too quiet for her to hear. Something like "Why are all these parents so lousy," "…break them out…" and something that she didn't quite catch, but she was roughly 90% sure was a swear word, judging by Marinette's tone and expression.

Finally she sighed, looking determinedly into Kagami's eyes, a fire present that she'd never seen before in Marinette. "I should NEVER have done what I did. I wronged both you AND Adrien. Trying to separate you two, to break you apart like that, was just… it was horrible. I became a bully, heck, I HELPED the girl who'd bullied me for years, to bully you in turn. You deserve better, Kagami. To be able to spend time with your friends when you can, without someone trying to embarrass you, to deliberately drive you apart."

Kagami stared at her a moment, eyes shimmering. "Thank you."

Marinette reached out, extending the bundle she was carrying towards her. "I know this can't make up for what I did, but- I made you an apology gift. It only seemed right."

Slowly, Kagami took the folded fabric.

It felt smooth and cool to the touch… silk perhaps?

Getting a better look at it, the red fabric practically bloomed with pink cherry blossoms.

Gently she unfurled it.

The kimono she unveiled was as good as any she owned, any that she'd buy at a store.

Marinette had created this in just the past couple of days?

She must've been up late, working on it every waking moment.

"Is… is it okay?" Marinette asked hesitantly. "Adrien got ahold of your measurements from when your mother ordered clothes from Gabriel, but I still had to guess on a few of the measurements – I can adjust it as needed-"

"I love it."

"You do?"

Kagami nodded, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "It looks wonderful. And the fact that you worked so hard on it makes it even better."

This was a long shot, and definitely a risk, but maybe…?

"Marinette… would you like to come to one of my fencing tournaments? Technically I'm not allowed to invite anyone… but it's a public tournament. If you happen to show up… well. It's just coincidence that you're there."

"You'd… you'd want me there?" Marinette asked, disbelieving.

Kagami nodded. Her mother would definitely say she was foolish, wanting to get to know her rival for her crush's affections (she shoved that thought away as quickly as she could), even wanting to befriend her, after she'd helped to hurt her, but- well, she wanted to try. Even if it was foolish. Even if it ended up being a bad choice. She wanted to take this chance. "I do."

Marinette nodded firmly. "I'll be there."

…And then seemed to think better of it. "Well… unless something comes up. I REALLY hope nothing comes up. But I'll definitely try."

Once Kagami got home, she carefully put her new kimono away in her closet.

These last few days had been hell, but maybe- just maybe- they would lead to her making a new friend.


End file.
